Anchoring means for airships



' J. ARNSTEIN Mmh m, 19240 1,486,623

ANCHORING MEANS FOR AIRSHIPS Filed Aug. 1. 1922 INVENTORZ film/MW THE F i 'Q DEFFHQElO is. 1 .'ST, OF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN-QN-THE-BQDENQEE, G-EEMAHY, AQSEGNQR Z IQ LUFTSCHIFFBAU ZEPE EKAEH, GEESELLSCHAFT Billl' BESGHUKTEEL HAli TUNG, @F FRIfiICAEEN-ON-THEE ODEN'AEE, GERMANY .ancnonrne manna ran a l v To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, KARL Anrrs'rnm, a citizen of Czechoslovakia, residing at Friedrichshafen-on-the-Bodensee, Germany, have invented certain new and useful improve ments in Anchoring Means for Airslnps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention.- broadly reiers to anchoring and transporting means for air ships, particularly of the elongated type, and it is intended to devise means of keeping the air ship securely and fioatingly mounted at a suitable distance from the ground, and at the same time allowing it to follow the impulse of the air current in the horizontal direction, without endangering its firm hold on the supporting means.

The means heretofore in use for anchoring air ships and the like consisted essentially in the fixing of a stationary point forward of the front end of the car and upon the gang'way by securing ropes to an anchoring point in the ground, while the front and rear portions of the car were kept down simultaneously by human power. This method heretofore particularly employed presents the disadvantage among other drawbacks that very considerable stresses are exerted upon the skeleton frame of the ship by gusts of wind in view of the employment of the flexible rope connection as a connecting means which is not safe a ainst compressing and crushing strain, while on the other hand there is the inconvenience that a large number of men are required for holding the hull and steering it in the direction of the wind.

l ifith a view oi avoiding the difficulty iirst referred to it has already been suggested to provide a rigid connection of some point on the-front portion of the skeleton frame of the air ship with some anchoring point which was likewise rigidly connected to the ground. This method, however, 'involved the drawback that it was impossible in the case of upwardly directed gusts of wind to comply with the necessity of allowing the ship to freely adjust itself of its own accord to the direction oi the air current, which is equivalent with the prevention oi the rear portion of the car from touching the ground, inasmuch as the violent squalls and gusts of wind then occurring have a tendency to depress the rear portion of the car against the ground with such vehemence that very serious injuries to the frame of the shi were unavoidable use of t iis kind of anchorin. v

W th a view of avoidin tese dificulties and inconveniences it has een suggested to mount the rear portion of the shlp upon a carriage oisuch a weight that there is no danger of its hein unintentionally lifted ofi' irom the ground.

This invention is based upon the employ ment of the carriage with the modification that suitable carriages, substantially such as are used ordinarily for shed and withdrawing oi the ship therefrom are made use of both for anchoring purposes as well as for the self-adjusting support of the rear portion of the shi Very considerable advantages are realize by this method which is able where the shed is occupied for the time bemg, and it becomes necessary to first wait for the departure of the ship housed theren, or in case of the im ossibility of housmg the shlp in the shed on account of the wind prevailing at the time. If it he now desired to dock the ship in the shed it will only be necessary to release the anchoring means, and the moving of the ship may then he proceeded with at once by means of the carriages.

it is of particular advantage in this con-= nection to provide means for raising and lowering the point of rigid anchoring of the air ship in the vertical plane, and by this means the anchoring operation itseli may be facilitated and the free movement of the ship is not interfered with by the dragging on the ground any portion of the front part of the ship or of the carriage. placing the anchoring point in the plane coinciding with the dismounting door the embarking and disemharking, and the taking in of freight, oi -operating means, fluid, ballast and the like may take place without danger even with unfavorable wind conditions.

My invention will he more daily explained with the aid of the accompanying drawing showing by way of example an emhcdiment of an air ship anchoring device in accordance with my invention.

Fig, i being a side elevation, and

Fig. 2 a detail in. transverse section.

when making the placing into the In Fi l, a indicates diagrammatically an air s ip with housing and withdrawal trucks d and e mounted upon the pilot car 6 and upon the motor car 0 respectively. The truck d is connected to the ground anchor f in such a manner that the rocking self-adjustment of the air ship according to the direction of the wind becomes possible.

The wheels of the truck 6 are transversely disposed with relation to the longitudinal axis of the ship and are adapted to move along a well levelled, asphalt coated or concrete surfaced circular track 9 of a diameter tocorrespond with the size of the ship with the point of anchorage as the center. The truck 6 itself may be of such weight or may be loaded sufiicientl to prevent any lifting of the stern of t e air ship from the round by sudden gusts of wind.

Fig. 2 illustrates on an enlarged scale a vertical sectional view of the ground anchoring member. The holder h with substantially spherical head is pivotally mount ed in a plunger 71 which is adapted to slide in a cylindrical tube is, by which means the said holder may be raised or lowered for a certain distance by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure-or by any suitable mechanical or electrical means. Ball bearings Z Z Z and l are rovided for the purpose of facilitating rotation. The ball a secured to the housing and withdrawing truck indicated at m is introduced into the socket o of the spherical head of the holder it so as to complete the anchorage, and is secured therein by the locking member 1). The truck is preferably mounted upon the pilot and passenger car in the plane of the door g.

While I have herein described my invention in its broad aspects, I do not intend to be limited to the particular construction herein shown by way of example, but various changes and modifications may occur to persons skilled in the art to adapt the device to varying conditions of application. and withoutdeviating from the spirit of my invention, as herein set forth and claimed.

I claim: I

1. Anchoring means for air ships and the like, comprising transporting truck means incense secured to the ship substantially adjacent its end,"means for detachably and pivotally securing said means to the ground, and a substantially circular track with the pivoting point of said means as a center.

2. Anchoring means for air ships and the like comprising transporting truck means secured to the ship substantially adjacent one of its ends, substantiallyrigid anchoring means for detachably and rotatably securing said means to the stantially circular track wit the anchor ing means as a center, and additional movable conveying means on said track and carrying the opposite end portion of said air ship.

'3. Anchoring means for air ships-and the like, comprising an air ship, a disembarking door on said air ship substantially adjacent one of its ends, transporting truck means secured to the ship in the vertical plane of said doorand supporting said air ship, means rigidly secured to said transporting truck means for pivoting them to the ground, a circular track upon the ground surrounding said pivoting means as a center, and means to support the air ship on said track.

4. Anchoring means for air ships and the.

like comprising an airship gondola, a joint member connected with said gondola, a socket fixed to the ground and engageable with said joint member, means for raising and lowering said socket, a substantially circular track with the socket as a center and movable transporting means on said track carrying said airship.

5. Anchoring means for airships and the like comprising an airship gondola, a transporting truck connected with said gondola, a joint member fixed to said truck, a socket fixed t0 the ground, a joint member connected with the airship and engageable with said socket, means for raising and lowering said socket, a substantially circular track with the socket as a center and movable transporting means on said'track carrying said airship.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

KARL ARNSTEIN.

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